coralinefandomcom-20200213-history
Sergei Alexander Bobinsky
This article, , is under active construction! Coraline Wiki apologizes for the inconvenience. : Do not confuse this article for the Other Mr. Bobinsky! Sergei Alexander Bobinsky, otherwise known as Mr. B or (as he prefers) Mr. Bobinsky, is Coraline's Russian neighbor who lives in the upstairs flat of the Pink Palace Apartments. He owns a jumping mice circus; Coraline assumes he is crazy and her mother believes that he's a drunk. Overview He gives her a beet and claims that it'll make her strong. Mel Jones believes him to be drunk, and Coraline instead believes him crazy when he mentions his mouse circus, but later calls him eccentric instead. He first appears just after the beginning of the film, performing exercises on the roof of the Pink Palace as Coraline's family and their moving van arrive to move in. Two days later, a mail mix-up forces Coraline to take his mail (containing strong-smelling cheese) up to his flat's door, where she meets Mr. B. in person and he gives her a "message" from his mice. He then appears at the end of the movie, sneakily uprooting some tulips, muttering To himself, planting more of his beets in place of the tulips, with another message from the mice. Appearance Mr. Bobinsky is a blue-skinned, extremely tall, Russian man; while not explained in the film, his blue skin is due to his constant time outside in the damp and cold weather. Despite his mostly blue complexion, his nose and chin are tinted violet. His body shape is inconsistent; while he is tall and mostly skinny, he has a noticeably large stomach, which jiggles and bounces when he moves. His body is also disproportionate, as his eyes and mouth are much smaller than the other aspects of his face. In addition, he wears a white, orange stained wife-beater tank top, shorts, and black marching boots. He has a long, untamed moustache, hairy shoulders and armpits, bushy eyebrows, and a hairy area below the navel. He also looks very unhealthy, with the unkempt hair, bloodshot eyes and saggy eyelids. However, his extremely long limbs and sickly complexion hide surprising strength and grace, as Mr. B can easily perform strenuous acrobatic feats such as a one-armed handstand, cartwheels, and safely land from a 10-20 foot jump. Personality Just like Coraline later says, Mr. Bobinsky is more eccentric instead of crazy. He is bold and truthful with his words, quite ignorant of what people would think of him when he says such things. He is always positive, generous and kind, despite a little bit north of normal. Mr. Bobinsky seems to love his exercise, as, every time he appears, he is constantly performing acrobatics or warmups. As such, he is rarely sitting or standing still. When he is first seen on-screen, he is atop the Pink Palace doing varied warmups. He also seems to have a loose grasp on English, using Russian words for things like "mice" and " new cheese" before repeating himself in English. His sentences, while clear enough in English, are somewhat watered down. Trivia * Mr. Bobinsky's original character in the book is Mr. Bobo and he trains mice to play music instead of a circus like in the movie. * The flag that he has hanging in front of his flat is the Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation. * He is the only character in the movie to have an abnormal skin color. * In the book, Mr. Bobinsky is not said to have blue skin. * Mr. Bobinsky and the Other Mr. Bobinsky seem to argue in the movie banner ad. * Mr. Bobinsky is wearing the liquidator medal which reads on the front "Participant in the clean-up campaign". The central detail of the medal is a drop of blood with three lines, each representing the type of radiation: Alpha (α), Beta (β) and Gamma (γ). The "ЧAЭC" indicates "Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant". This medal is a unique real life medal as it is the only medal in the world awarded for participation in a nuclear clean up. That might explain his skin complexion and odd behavior (eating raw beets, etc.) This would also imply that Mr. B. must have immigrated to the United States from living in the Soviet Union, that, and his somewhat loose English. *This may also mean that Mr. Bobinsky may have helped clean up the town of Pripyat after The Chernobyl disaster. * Henry Selick explains that Mr. Bobinsky's skin is blue because he's outside all the time, in the cold and damp weather, wearing only a sleeveless shirt and short pants. And the cold causes his skin to become blue. * Mr. Bobinsky's voice is the first to be heard in the film, and he is the second character to appear (the first being the Other Mother, although not fully revealed). * It is claimed by Mel Jones that Mr. Bobinsky is drunk, but given his impeccable balance and dexterity in terms of acrobatics, it is certainly more likely that he is simply very eccentric, as alcohol impairs fine motor skills and balance. * "Do svidaniya (До свиданья)" means "Till (the next) meeting", basically "Until we meet again." * In the film, Mr. Bobinsky narrowly escaped accidental castration at the hands of Coraline. When jumping down onto her from his balcony, she ducks down and tries to shield her head with her hands, inadvertently pointing her sharp garden shears straight up. When Mr. B. lands on his feet, he's left standing over her, the shear blades less than an inch from his groin. Of course, he pretends to not notice. * Mr. Bobinsky claims that the mice give him messages to say to Coraline, although animals cannot talk in the Real World. * When first introduced, he counts in Russian, but when Coraline's parents honk the horn of their bug, he almost loses his balance, and curses at them in Russian. * Mr. Bobinsky's middle name should be "Alexandrovich" rather than just "Alexander", since Russians have patronymics as their middle names, derived from their father's first name. Quotes * "And I am the amazing Bobinsky! But you call me Mr. B. Because, amazing, I already know that I am." * '"You see, Caroline, the problem is . . . My new songs go oompah, oompah! but the jumping mice play only toodle-toot, like that. Is nice, but not so much amazing. So now, I switch to stronger cheese and soon, watch out!" * Mr. Bobinsky: "Do svidaniya, Caroline." Coraline: "Cor-aline." * "Have beet, make you strong." * Mr. Bobinsky: "Podozhdite (Подождите: wait), wait! The mice asked me to give you message." Coraline: "The jumping mice?" Mr. Bobinsky: "They are saying ... do not go through little door." Mr. Bobinsky: "Do you know such a thing?" Coraline: "The one behind the wallpaper? But it's all bricked up." Mr. Bobinsky: "Bah. So sorry. Is nothing. Sometimes the mice are little mixed-up. They even get your name wrong, you know? They call you Coraline instead of Caroline. Not Caroline at all! Maybe I work them too hard." * Coraline: "How are the mooshkas, Mr. B?" Mr. Bobinsky: "They tell me that you are savior, Caroline. And soon as they are ready, they wish to give special thanks you performance."" Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Neighbors Category:Heroes